To Serve Man: A Call To Revolution
by SuperBear
Summary: Rise up, people of Earth, and overthrow your Kanamit overlords! When a call goes out to raise an army against the human-eating Kanamits, various "Twilight Zone" characters determine how they will respond.


"Attention, citizens of Earth. This is a worldwide broadcast from the rebel army on the Kanamit homeworld. We are asking you to help us form an army against the Kanamits."

All over the world, people of all races and nationalities reacted. Some chatted excitedly in their native language while others simply nodded in understanding.

Everyone knew about the Kanamits, of course. When they arrived on Earth, they claimed they just wanted to help create better conditions for mankind. Cure disease. Grow crops in the desert. That kind of thing.

But really they just wanted to eat people.

A famous film clip had been circulated in which people were boarding a spaceship. The camera jerked slightly as a panicky frantic woman, held back by a Kanamit, shouted, "'To Serve Man!' It's a cookbook!" The stairs to the spaceship quickly went up, with one frightened dark-haired passenger being pushed aboard.

"To Serve Man" was the title of a book left behind by a Kanamit who addressed the United Nations.

Starving, desperate, frightened people around the world knew all this. These same people now listened intensely as this urgent audio broadcast continued.

"We have already freed many of the people taken in the spaceships." Cheers went up all over the world. "If you wish to join us, report to the nearest rocket launching center. We have arranged for the Kanamits on Earth to be temporarily paralyzed. They will not interfere."

Worldwide, muttering and mumbling followed.

"If we take the fight to them on their own world, we should be able to defeat them and then rebuild Earth. Please. Join the fight."

There was quiet in many parts of the world followed by talks on what to do.

The consensus by some was that even if this was a trick by the Kanamits, taking a chance on fighting back was better than living in fear.

In a basement, four people with very unusual faces sat with heads bowed, as they had for months. Upon hearing the message, all four looked up.

"Ever since we put on those masks, they turned our faces into...this."

"We could frighten the Kanamits with our hideous faces."

"Even if we can't, there's no sense living like this."

The pig-faced doctor whose house this was peered out from around the corner.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," he said in a Boris Karloff voice.

Briefly turning toward him, the four face-people all groaned derisively and shook their heads. As they trudged up the stairs, an attractive dark-haired man and a beautiful blonde, assistants to Dr. Pig-Face, followed.

"We should all work together," the woman said.

"The ugly and the beautiful," the man said. "The Kanamits want to eat us all. They make no distinction. Let us fight side by side."

He took her hand. As the group of six walked down the street, they passed a diner with a big pink neon sign that said EAT.

In that diner, there were only two figures. The three-armed man smiled as he smoked a cigarette. Behind the counter, the soda jerk lifted his cap to reveal a third eye.

"Well, my Venusian friend, what say you? Shall we take up the fight?"

"I say this, my Martian friend: instead of fighting each other, let's fight the Kanamits."

Outside the diner, a little boy raised a fist and shouted up at the sky as he imagined himself confronting a tall bald Kanamit.

"You're bad men! You're very bad men! I'll make you go away!"

A doll lay at his feet. It opened its eyes and spoke.

"My name is Talking Tina. And I really don't like Kanamits."

As the doll rose and walked, a grinning man with bottle-cap glasses clutched a book as he looked up at the sky.

"Ever since the Kanamits practically emptied Earth, I've had plenty of time to read. All the time in the world. Still, I think I'd like to take what I've read and put it to work. I'd like to help fight these Kanamits. Fight 'em!" Putting on his best angry face, the man shook his fist at the sky.

Soon Rocket Pad Four was filled with an unusual assortment of characters.

A counter featured a crude handwritten sign that said "Check-In." The man behind the counter had thick dark eyebrows and a wry grin. Wearing a dark suit and dark tie, he spoke in a calm steady voice.

"Welcome, my friends," he said. "The rockets are waiting. Prepare for the next part of your journey. Use whatever you have to fight the Kanamits. And Godspeed."


End file.
